Old Friends and New Beginnings
by Araceli
Summary: KOTOR. Revan opened her mouth in protest but Carth shushed her. He took her hands in his, a smirk on his face, “This ain’t over yet, sister.”


Just an idea I had and decided to post it up. I don't really expect to add any other chapters, but you never know. :D Hope you enjoy!

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Alderaan was indeed a peaceful planet, and Carth found its beauty calming. He certainly understood why Revan fled to this planet. It was very serene, a more than perfect place to lose yourself in and just what she was looking for he guessed. He had to admit he was surprised she didn't head back to the Rakata home world. She had been so awe inspired by its landscapes, but then again maybe it held too many painful memories.  
  
He hadn't realized how close he was to the truth when he said the Rakata home world held too many painful memories for Revan. Rakata held too strong a memory of him for Revan to handle. She fled to get away from everything, the immense crowds waiting for her at every docking bay, the Council, the bond with Bastila, and especially Carth. The council was flat out ordering her to end the relationship she shared with him, but she wasn't sure she could find the strength to part with it. She had come to rely on him. His presence calmed her, centered her. Just thinking of his permanent absence pierced into her very being. He was her anchor, keeping her at bay when the seas turned brutal.  
  
Carth entered the Cantina, and slunk back against the wall, keeping Revan just in his view up at the bar. She was staring idly into her glass, finding it's offering of solitude unfulfilling. She sighed, tilting the tumbler back and downing its contents. Carth could only venture a guess as to the drink's name, but he knew Alderaanian Ale would be a good start; she'd made friends with the drink long ago, just after Taris.  
  
He watched as she ordered another, and saw the bartender shake his head disapprovingly as he began to refill her glass. Absentmindedly, she glanced up at the holovid hanging in the corner, displaying swoop times and the outcome of the day's races. The bartender served her drink, and she once again lost herself among its dark swirls.  
  
Carth took a look at the place. In the far corner a group of people had assembled around a Rodian and a Sullustan, playing a high stakes game of pazaak. In another corner a cluster of Mercenaries were comparing deals, analyzing their offers. All in all, she could've chosen a much worse place to lose herself in. He didn't know why she insisted upon doing this, but he was just glad that he'd found her. She'd led him on quite a chase, but he had a promise to fulfill and Carth Onasi kept his promises.  
  
After the Star Forge, she'd been paraded around the galaxy, and made a show of. An 'example for others', the Council had called her. He'd already had a bad impression imprinted into his mind of the Council and this only emphasized it. She needed time to come to terms with her past. First they wipe her memory to use it against her, even if it had been for good intentions, then they program her with a new identity and false memories, and finally they retrain her and send her gallivanting across the galaxy chasing star maps and old recollections of a past she didn't remember. And when she did learn of the Council's actions, she sympathized with it, gritted her teeth and bared it, doing her duty to clean the mess she'd made and save the Galaxy. She denied her old habits, and truly redeemed herself, but in their eyes this wasn't enough. Carth had been there throughout the ordeal, and the only good thing he had to say about the Council was their decision to actually save her, and even that hadn't solely been their decision. That credit was to be given to Bastila, if she hadn't used the Force to sustain Revan's life...Carth didn't even want to think of it.  
  
Revan suddenly turned to look at him, snapping him away from his ranting reminiscence. He couldn't distinguish if it was surprise on her face, ire, or maybe even apprehension. But it was shock that fled across her features.  
  
She slowly retreated from the bar, and trudged out the door. She was avoiding this as long as she could, Carth could tell. He smiled at her when her eyes looked up from the ground and met his. She stopped a long ways from him, looking at him with an unreadable expression, her eyes quickly withdrawing back to the ground.  
  
He became intoxicated with the nearness of her. _How long has it really been_, he thought to himself, _surely not as long as it seems_, "Hey gorgeous."  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked never looking up from the ground.  
  
"Fulfilling my promise," he stated. He took a few steps toward her, trying to fill the gap she'd set between them.  
  
She raised her head at his reply, "Your promise?"  
  
_Same beautiful blue eyes_, he thought, then noticed the immense melancholy contained within them. _We're going to have to do something about that._ "Yes, my promise," he took a few more steps. "On Tatooine, I promised that I would protect you, that I would see this through to the end."  
  
Revan opened her mouth in protest but Carth shushed her. He took her hands in his, a smirk on his face, "This ain't over yet, sister."  
  
Revan tried to speak again, but found she was speechless. Jolee would surely croak if he ever saw her without a tart comment on her lips.  
  
"What I'm trying to say, Revan," he continued, "Is that this doesn't have to be the end. It can be the beginning," he pulled her closer to him, ever minimizing the distance between, "the beginning of something great. I love you Revan, you know that, but you can't do this to yourself.  
  
"I know the Council is trying their best to keep us apart and if you continue to push aside your emotions then they will succeed. You're only setting yourself up for more torture, and you don't deserve that. The Council should be grateful for you and Bastila, you were their only hope. Not parading you on a tour like a holovid star. You deserve time to cope with everything and figure out what you want, at least that much Revan."  
  
He paused to take her reaction at these words, she felt almost limp in his arms.  
  
"You shouldn't be sitting in a cantina, striving to fill the void with your old Alderaanian friend." He looked into her eyes, wanting some kind of response, even if it is only an expression. He'd take anything but the absence thereof. "You won't find your solace in a drink, Revan." Pausing, he idly ran his fingers through a stray lock of her dark hair, snapping her out of her silent reverie.  
  
"Then where?" she whispered, tears evident in her voice. It wasn't a question, but an admittance of defeat.  
  
Carth once again took her hands in his, stroking his thumb along her knuckle. She stared at his hands. "In me, Revan."  
  
The words rang through her ears. She could feel a rushing sensation run up her spine as he wrapped his arms around her waist, and she could think of nothing but him. She noticed the way those two uncontainable strands of hair always found their way across his right temple, and she could taste the sensation that was only Carth as he swooped down, locking his lips with hers. His kiss was gentle and sweet, eventually swelling into something deeper as he slowly coaxed her lips to part. As if the ale hadn't had her dizzy with drunkenness already, she was now intoxicated with Carth. 


End file.
